Posts Tagged ‘barrier’

Regardless of the red flags skeptics attempt to raise, Six Sigma is not a cult or a seventh-grade science project. Even the most ardent Six Sigma fans should view questions from skeptics as a chance to present evidence supporting the use of Six Sigma and change management techniques in healthcare. Six Sigma makes it easier for people to do the right thing by identifying and removing the barriers to excellence.

Liquid Controls, a manufacturer of high-quality flow meters and accessories for accurate liquid measurement, is a well-practiced user of Six Sigma methodologies. Having adopted Six Sigma in 1999 and made significant strides in improving manufacturing processes, the company more recently…

Every company runs into resistance that can slow down, or even rail, a new Lean Six Sigma initiative. That is why part of every executive's repertoire needs to be the knowledge, skills and tools to minimize the occurrence and impact of resistance.

Six Sigma has grown in popularity, yet it still has detractors. These skeptics are people who feel burdened by the disruption Six Sigma has caused in their work life. It is up to managers to face the skeptics and set the right tone for a deployment.

While some resistance to change is inevitable, there are ways for Lean Six Sigma project teams to accelerate change through best practices using tactical tools to gain acceptance, change old habits and increase the company's bottom line.

A critical component of any successful Six Sigma project is overcoming resistance to change. The reason: Without user acceptance, any process improvement is doomed to fail. Therefore, proper anticipation and understanding the approaches to various resistance tactics is essential to success.

Resistance to Six Sigma implementation is quite common in spite of the inordinate amount of time and effort we spend trying to convince managers otherwise. To combat the onslaught of business complaints are a list of realities that should help you in your day-to-day activities.

Though debate over specific solutions may continue, there seems to be widespread consensus for changes in healthcare in the United States to address inconsistencies in quality and efficiency. So what is keeping these changes from happening?

For many Six Sigma practitioners in transactional environments, simply handing off the project does not guarantee that the gains will be realized. A number of techniques can help overcome obstacles and bring a Six Sigma project to realization.

Practitioners typically encounter four types of resistance to Six Sigma: technical, political, organizational and personal. To resolve these negative forces, they must understand its root cause and then adjust their deployment strategies accordingly.

What is clear is that Six Sigma can drive bigger improvements in patient care and cost reduction, and potentially, do it faster. In the handful of hospitals that have successfully implemented Six Sigma, the results are impressive.

Many Six Sigma efforts are doing well enough, limping along with casual management support, frustration from underused Belts, and less than earth-shattering savings. The following actions can help turn so-so programs like these into something great.

For many, delivering quality patient care is non-negotiable and the ability to function at the highest level of efficiency while doing so is seen as a necessity...not a choice. Realizing and responding to this quandary a few years ago, California's Stanford University Medical Center decided to aggressively work toward a solution and overcome resistance by approaching it with evidence.

Not every organization is so lucky as to have senior management fully on board from the start of a Six Sigma program. There are, however, a couple of proven ways to turn on management support for a continuous improvement program organization-wide.